Chapter 9: Battle for a Frozen Heart
Hiccup was back up on his feet a moment later. Kristoff, failing to notice that Hiccup was struck, immediately ran to Anna, helping her back to her feet.
"Anna, are you okay?" Kristoff asked. Elsa turned around and gasped, the ice in her castle darkening.
"I'm fine." Anna said glaring at her sister. Hiccup knew that anger at this time was a very bad idea, and interjected before things could erupt.
"Elsa, if anger and fear are the emotions that are causing this, joy and courage are the ones that can stop this." Hiccup said, trying to calm her down.
"NO!" Elsa shouted, glaring at all the people in her castle. "What power could you possibly have to stop this winter; to stop me?" Elsa asked.
"We're not leaving without you." Anna said defiantly.
"Yes you are." Elsa disagreed, throwing a blast of magic at the ground. A swirl formed, and a massive snowman rose out of it, towering over the three people. He grabbed Hiccup, Anna, and Kristoff in one hand, holding Olaf in the other.
"Go away." He said in a deep voice, tossing the three people down the stairs. Sven had his tongue stuck to the rail, Toothless drawing in the ground with an icicle to pass the time.
"Head's up!" Olaf shouted as the snowman threw it. Olaf's head landed in a mound of snow. "Watch out for my bod." He said, and his body landed in two separate parts. Anna formed a snowball, fury in her eyes.
"It is not nice to throw people!" She shouted, winding her arm up. Kristoff held her back.
"Whoa feisty pants, just let the snowman be."
"Fine, I'm calm." Anna said. As soon as he let her go, her snowball flew and hit the snowman in the shoulder with a dull thud. The snowman stood still for a moment, before roaring, claws made of ice sprouting from his fingers.
"Now you made him mad." Kristoff said.
"I'll distract him, you guys go." Sven bounding over to Kristoff, Toothless rushing to Hiccup at the sound of a whistle. The three humans and their companions ran. Olaf's body followed them blindly. "Wait, where are you going?" He asked, and his head fell to the ground as the snow monster started to follow them. "This just got a whole lot harder." Olaf noted.
The three were running as fast as the snow would allow, but it was hindering them greatly. The snow, however, didn't hinder the snow monster at all.
"Toothless, plasma blast!" Hiccup shouted. Toothless turned on a dime and shot a single, low-power fireball at the snow monster's knee, crippling it. They stopped at the edge of a cliff. Kristoff started digging what he called a snow anchor, explaining that they would be safe even if they fell. Hiccup had his share of free falls, but didn't enjoy them unless he was much higher in the sky.
"Hey guys!" Olaf said. "We totally lost Marshmallow back there." Marshmallow took that exact time to step into view.
"See you guys at the bottom." Hiccup said as he leapt off the cliff. Soon as he did, he pulled out his wingsuit, gliding safely to the ground below. Toothless jumped down, opening his wings to slow the descent. Hiccup landed, and put his wing suit away. Looking up, he saw Olaf fall, and then Anna and Kristoff being hoisted back up. Hiccup groaned, and hopped into Toothless' saddle. Clicking the tailfin open, Toothless shot up in the air, circled and shot Marshmallow in the hand, destroying it.
Hiccup then directed Toothless back to the ice castle. Elsa was going to hear him out, whether she wanted to or not. As Toothless landed, Hiccup heard Marshmallow coming back toward the castle.
"Toothless, take care of him for me." Hiccup said. He ran up to the door, and banged on it. Unsurprisingly, it didn't open. "Elsa! I don't want to break this door down, but I won't hesitate to do so if you don't open it right now!" Hiccup shouted. The door refused to budge. Pulling Inferno from his thigh, he hit the button on the pommel releasing gas. Jumping back as he cut the stream off, he hit another button. The gas lite up, blasting through the door.
Hiccup fixed his sword back to his thigh, and found himself staring into the crystal blue eyes of a very angry Elsa. She looked over his shoulder, and her eyes widened at the black creature that was fighting her new protector. "That is the kind of power I have to stop you." Hiccup said. "Unless you'd rather talk?" Elsa looked at him, internally debating. Suddenly, she saw the braids of his hair shift from brown to white.
Meanwhile…
Anna was shivering from the cold; her hair turning white. Kristoff had taken her to his family of trolls. Meeting with the eldest, the found only an act of true love could thaw a frozen heart. They agreed they had to get Anna back to Arendelle and Hans. Little did they know, that he was currently unavailable.
On the north Mountain…
The battle between Marshmallow and Toothless was still going strong. In fact, that was what led Hans and the soldiers to Elsa's castle, not the sight of the castle but the sounds of the battle. Marshmallow couldn't keep up with Toothless' clearly superior agility, but Toothless could never permanently destroy Marshmallow. Whenever he injured or destroyed part of the snow monster, the surrounding snow would fill in the empty space; and there was no shortage of snow on the North Mountain.
Marshmallow finally created a small snowstorm, wind and ice whipping around the battlefield, and dropped the entire power of it on Toothless in one blast, covering the dragon completely, obscuring him from view. Marshmallow turned to the soldiers, who, instead of looking at the snowman, were looking at the blue light that started glowing inside the snow mound, a whistle filling the air. The snow could be seen melting from an intense heat from under the pile, and the pile exploded outward. When the dust and smoke finally cleared, Toothless was seen, only he was no longer a midnight blue. His spines along his back, where his wings linked with his body, and his nostrils were glowing light blue with an inner energy. Toothless roared at Marshmallow, eager to continue their fight. As Marshmallow turned to deal with the pesky dragon, Toothless fired. A hole the size of Toothless himself appeared in Marshmallows chest, causing him to stagger back.
Hans and soldiers tried to dart in between to two warring titans, but fear kept them from doing so. The duke's two body guards managed to do so. Hiccup, seeing them coming, urged Elsa to the balcony, but couldn't call Toothless over the roars of battle. He raced after her. The duke's men followed them up, and Elsa stood there with Hiccup, staring at the two men.
"Just leave me alone." Elsa pleaded. Before the rest of the sentence was out, a bolt from one of the crossbows was fired. Elsa raised her hands to defend herself, and a sheet of ice followed them, stopping the tip less than an inch from her face. The two men split, trying to flank her. Hiccup backed up, so Elsa and he were back to back. Hiccup steeled his resolve, the thick right piece of armor of his arm facing one of the men, right hand resting on the hilt of the dagger sitting on his left bracer. The man fired at Hiccup; the only mistake he had time to make.
Hiccup positioned his armor to take the bolt and then turned around, pulling the dagger free and throwing it. As the dagger sailed toward the man, Hiccup's arm continued its motion, and grabbed Inferno from his thigh. The dagger struck the man in his arm just as he reloaded his crossbow. He screamed out in pain, which was cut short when Hiccup tackled him, pinning him to wall, and then released Inferno's blade, holding it close to the soldier's throat. Though the blade was far enough away that it wouldn't burn the soldier, it was still close enough for the heat to be felt.
The other man tried to attack Elsa, but she fired ice blast after ice blast, warding him off. She trapped him between two walls of ice, and formed a barricade, pushing him towards the edge of the balcony. As Hiccup heard the doors to the outside balcony break, he got worried. But he didn't dare take his eyes off of the man in front of him. Hans entered and shouted at Elsa.
"Queen Elsa, don't become the monster they all fear you are!" He shouted. Elsa glanced back at Hans, realizing her fear and anger got the best of her for a few moments. She halted the creation of her ice barricade. Hiccup was so stunned by the arrival of the prince that he stole a glance. It was all his captive needed. The captive raised his crossbow, aiming it at Elsa. Hiccup noticed it at the last second, and grabbed the crossbow with his left hand, raising it. The man pulled the lever, the bolt soaring over Elsa but slicing the fragile ice that held her chandelier.
Hiccup released the man and tackled Elsa to the ground, protecting her from the falling object. Elsa was knocked unconscious from the blow, and a large chunk of ice flew up in the air, striking Hiccup in the back of his head, knocking him out as well.
AN: We are getting close to the end people. Now, some of you are probably wondering when Hiccup's second sword is going to come into play; soon my fans, very soon. Remember, reviews, comments and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is always welcome. Until next time, this is The-real-dragon-rider saying later!
